The Horror Genre
Horror Codes and Conventions
Iconography
The term ‘iconography’ derives from art history, where it refers to visual signs. However, it is likely that most horror movies have a scream in them somewhere, so it is appropriate to extend the concept to include aural signs. Objects, or sounds, in themselves do not necessarily connote a genre. For example, a crucifix is more readily associated with the church as a symbol of Christ’s resurrection. However, in the context of a horror film the visual sign of the crucifix takes on an added meaning. Obviously it is still associated with Christ, but it is also seen as a weapon against evil. Similarly, a sharp knife in a horror context is likely to be used eviscerate somebody; in a television cookery show the only thing it is likely to cut is food.
Blood; monsters; religious relics (including crucifixes); kitchen knives in a
wooden block; creaking doors; screams; skulls; thunder and lightning.
Characters
Monsters; ghosts; vampires; werewolves; mad scientists; ignorant villagers; ‘maidens in distress’; zombies; experts in ‘supernatural science’.
Characters are rooted more strongly in horror than setting. They are often used to articulate a vital opposition in the genre, that of human/inhuman. If there is a monster in a text, it is very likely to belong to the horror genre; Freaks (1932) and Nightbreed (1990) are two exceptions where the ‘monstrous’ characters were shown to be human. The characters who are experts in ‘supernatural science’ refer to
individuals such as Bram Stoker’s Van Helsing, who possesses the specialist knowledge needed to (in his case) conquer Dracula. These are the characters that are capable of nullifying the threat of the monster, so they are usually the narrative heroes: the narrative process in horror films tends to be marked by a search for that discourse, that specialised form of knowledge which will enable the human characters to comprehend and to control that which simultaneously embodies and cause its ‘trouble’. (Neale, 1980: 22)
The psychopath, evident in the ‘teen horror’ cycle – which includes films such as Scream – is an amalgam of the human and inhuman. While psychos are usually human beings, as they do not have a monster’s supernatural abilities, their morality is inhuman as they show complete disregard for human life. The psychopath does not need specialist ‘supernatural’ knowledge to be defeated; it is the knowledge of detection that is required in order to work out ‘who is doing it?’ (the Scream series) or ‘where is he?’ (Michael in the Halloween series). As noted above, the monster is the focus of the ‘inhuman’ and ‘it is the monster’s body which focuses the disruption’ (ibid.) This ‘disruption’ is the narrative problem that needs resolving. No film will include all the above elements, although spoofs do include more than most. Films therefore combine a number of the elements which are then organised by the narrative into a more or less coherent text.
Settings
Castles; old dark houses; suburbia; Transylvania; cellars.
Setting is probably the loosest of the four elements. For some genres, particularly Westerns, which are usually set on the American frontier between 1865 and 1890 (see pages 68–9), the setting can be very specific in terms of time and place. However, horror movies can have a wide variety of settings including Transylvania (and numerous other mittel-European settings, evident in ‘Dracula’ movies such as Nosferatu, A Symphony of Horrors, 1922), suburbia (Halloween, 1978), and outer space (Alien, 1979, an SF-horror
hyphenate . However, the ‘old dark house’ setting (which was the title of a 1932 Universal movie) is specific to the genre. Films such as The Haunting (1963, remade 1999) and The House on Haunted Hill (1959, remade 1999) use the house as a character; it is the narrative villain. This type of horror text, like those including vampires, can be considered as a sub-genre.
Narratives
Vampires: ‘creatures of the night’ who need to drink blood to survive. (Werewolves have their own set of characteristics, including the inability to be killed unless they are shot by a silver bullet, and affection for the full moon.)
Haunted house: restless spirits need exorcising from a building;.
Possession: an evil spirit needs exorcising from a body.
Creation of monster: a ‘mad’ scientist tries to create a life form.
Slasher: a psychopath terrorises a small community or group of friends.
Narrative is the way in which the other three elements are combined, giving both context to the signs deployed and a framework for audiences to use to make sense of events. Conventional narratives are structured by an equilibrium–disruption–resolution pattern described by Tzvetan Todorov. The ‘disruption’ refers to the narrative problem that must be overcome; once this is done, the narrative ends. Genres can, in part, be defined by their narrative disruption. For example, if the problem is aliens invading Earth, we are likely to be reading a science fiction text; a drug baron trying to take over an area probably refers to a gangster (or gangsta) text. Of course, because of the fluid nature of genre, narratives can belong in more than one genre. For example, a murderer is on the loose can be resolved by several genres, including cop, detective, thriller and horror.
Narrative in horror, as in thrillers, engages audiences in a particular relationship. While audiences know something horrible is going to happen in a horror text, they do not know when it will happen. This suspense is one of the pleasures of the genre, and is most obvious in the convention of having the monster came back from the dead after it appears to have been despatched at the end.
Non-diegetic (that is, not part of the narrative world) music is often used to connote a threat to the character(s) – a threat they are ignorant of. However, this also can be used as a red herring, where the music connotes a problem, such as an intruder in the house, but it transpires that the person is a friend of the protagonist. The best horror texts catch the reader, as well as the protagonist, unaware.
The ‘fantastic’
Tzvetan Todorov has described a particular form of horror text, the fantastic, which spans the uncertainty between the rational and irrational: In a world which is indeed our world … without devils … or vampires, there occurs an event which cannot be explained.… The person who experiences the event must opt for one of two possible solutions: either he is the victim of an illusion of the senses … or else the event has indeed taken place … this reality is controlled by laws unknown to us. (Todorov, 1975: 25)
Pure examples of the fantastic are relatively rare. Most of the events in Final Destination could happen without the intervention of Death, but a close-up of water that has leaked out of a toilet flowing backwards, after the victim has m died, compromises the suggestion that these events could have happened naturally. Rosemary’s Baby (1967) maintains doubt over whether Rosemary has been unhinged by pregnancy, or has actually been impregnated by the devil, until the film’s final scene.
Conventions
The repertoire of generic conventions available at any one point in time is always in play rather than simply being re-played.
(Neale, 2000: 219) This ‘play’ occurs in two ways: the choice and combination of elements. Each new expression of a genre is likely to be different in some way from previous examples. For example Psycho (1960) introduced a particularly visceral form of horror in the shower slaying of Marion Crane. Such was the impact of this film that virtually all subsequent horror movies have been influenced by it. This influence, of course, is directed through the generic change that Psycho wrought. It is difficult, possibly impossible, to understand the paradigm shift that film had on audience expectation 40 years after the event. Linda Williams has suggested that:
Psycho introduced, long before the blockbusters [such as Star Wars
(1977) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)], what might be called a
roller-coaster concept to the phenomenon of film viewing. For Psycho
the ride began … with … its anticipation of terror. It continued in the
film proper with an unprecedented experience of disorientation,
destabilization, and terror.
(Williams, 2000: 358)
This roller-coaster ride, which is still evident in ‘blockbuster’ cinema, might best be characterised in the context of horror as the ghost train. In many horror texts the repertoire of elements is mobilised in order to give visceral shocks to the audience, just when they were not expecting it, allowing the spectators to experience fear in safety. However we must not forget such horror films as The Sixth Sense (1999), which underplay visceral shock in favour of psychological investigation. This film was popular with a wide audience, whereas the attractions of ‘gross out’, or body horror, appears to lessen with age.
http://www.palgrave.com/culturalmedia/lacey/p/Genre-clean.pdf
References
Cawelti, John G. (1976) Adventure, Mystery and Romance, Chicago: University of Chicago
Press.
Gledhill, Christine and Williams, Linda (eds) (2000) Reinventing Film Studies, London and
New York: Arnold.
Neale, Steve (2000) Genre and Hollywood, London and New York: Routledge.
Todorov, Tzvetan (1975) The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre, Ithaca,
NY: Cornell University Press.
Williams, Linda (2000) ‘Discipline and fun: Psycho and postmodern cinema’,
in C. Gledhill and L. Williams (eds), Reinventing Film Studies, London and
Iconography
The term ‘iconography’ derives from art history, where it refers to visual signs. However, it is likely that most horror movies have a scream in them somewhere, so it is appropriate to extend the concept to include aural signs. Objects, or sounds, in themselves do not necessarily connote a genre. For example, a crucifix is more readily associated with the church as a symbol of Christ’s resurrection. However, in the context of a horror film the visual sign of the crucifix takes on an added meaning. Obviously it is still associated with Christ, but it is also seen as a weapon against evil. Similarly, a sharp knife in a horror context is likely to be used eviscerate somebody; in a television cookery show the only thing it is likely to cut is food.
Blood; monsters; religious relics (including crucifixes); kitchen knives in a
wooden block; creaking doors; screams; skulls; thunder and lightning.
Characters
Monsters; ghosts; vampires; werewolves; mad scientists; ignorant villagers; ‘maidens in distress’; zombies; experts in ‘supernatural science’.
Characters are rooted more strongly in horror than setting. They are often used to articulate a vital opposition in the genre, that of human/inhuman. If there is a monster in a text, it is very likely to belong to the horror genre; Freaks (1932) and Nightbreed (1990) are two exceptions where the ‘monstrous’ characters were shown to be human. The characters who are experts in ‘supernatural science’ refer to
individuals such as Bram Stoker’s Van Helsing, who possesses the specialist knowledge needed to (in his case) conquer Dracula. These are the characters that are capable of nullifying the threat of the monster, so they are usually the narrative heroes: the narrative process in horror films tends to be marked by a search for that discourse, that specialised form of knowledge which will enable the human characters to comprehend and to control that which simultaneously embodies and cause its ‘trouble’. (Neale, 1980: 22)
The psychopath, evident in the ‘teen horror’ cycle – which includes films such as Scream – is an amalgam of the human and inhuman. While psychos are usually human beings, as they do not have a monster’s supernatural abilities, their morality is inhuman as they show complete disregard for human life. The psychopath does not need specialist ‘supernatural’ knowledge to be defeated; it is the knowledge of detection that is required in order to work out ‘who is doing it?’ (the Scream series) or ‘where is he?’ (Michael in the Halloween series). As noted above, the monster is the focus of the ‘inhuman’ and ‘it is the monster’s body which focuses the disruption’ (ibid.) This ‘disruption’ is the narrative problem that needs resolving. No film will include all the above elements, although spoofs do include more than most. Films therefore combine a number of the elements which are then organised by the narrative into a more or less coherent text.
Settings
Castles; old dark houses; suburbia; Transylvania; cellars.
Setting is probably the loosest of the four elements. For some genres, particularly Westerns, which are usually set on the American frontier between 1865 and 1890 (see pages 68–9), the setting can be very specific in terms of time and place. However, horror movies can have a wide variety of settings including Transylvania (and numerous other mittel-European settings, evident in ‘Dracula’ movies such as Nosferatu, A Symphony of Horrors, 1922), suburbia (Halloween, 1978), and outer space (Alien, 1979, an SF-horror
hyphenate . However, the ‘old dark house’ setting (which was the title of a 1932 Universal movie) is specific to the genre. Films such as The Haunting (1963, remade 1999) and The House on Haunted Hill (1959, remade 1999) use the house as a character; it is the narrative villain. This type of horror text, like those including vampires, can be considered as a sub-genre.
Narratives
Vampires: ‘creatures of the night’ who need to drink blood to survive. (Werewolves have their own set of characteristics, including the inability to be killed unless they are shot by a silver bullet, and affection for the full moon.)
Haunted house: restless spirits need exorcising from a building;.
Possession: an evil spirit needs exorcising from a body.
Creation of monster: a ‘mad’ scientist tries to create a life form.
Slasher: a psychopath terrorises a small community or group of friends.
Narrative is the way in which the other three elements are combined, giving both context to the signs deployed and a framework for audiences to use to make sense of events. Conventional narratives are structured by an equilibrium–disruption–resolution pattern described by Tzvetan Todorov. The ‘disruption’ refers to the narrative problem that must be overcome; once this is done, the narrative ends. Genres can, in part, be defined by their narrative disruption. For example, if the problem is aliens invading Earth, we are likely to be reading a science fiction text; a drug baron trying to take over an area probably refers to a gangster (or gangsta) text. Of course, because of the fluid nature of genre, narratives can belong in more than one genre. For example, a murderer is on the loose can be resolved by several genres, including cop, detective, thriller and horror.
Narrative in horror, as in thrillers, engages audiences in a particular relationship. While audiences know something horrible is going to happen in a horror text, they do not know when it will happen. This suspense is one of the pleasures of the genre, and is most obvious in the convention of having the monster came back from the dead after it appears to have been despatched at the end.
Non-diegetic (that is, not part of the narrative world) music is often used to connote a threat to the character(s) – a threat they are ignorant of. However, this also can be used as a red herring, where the music connotes a problem, such as an intruder in the house, but it transpires that the person is a friend of the protagonist. The best horror texts catch the reader, as well as the protagonist, unaware.
The ‘fantastic’
Tzvetan Todorov has described a particular form of horror text, the fantastic, which spans the uncertainty between the rational and irrational: In a world which is indeed our world … without devils … or vampires, there occurs an event which cannot be explained.… The person who experiences the event must opt for one of two possible solutions: either he is the victim of an illusion of the senses … or else the event has indeed taken place … this reality is controlled by laws unknown to us. (Todorov, 1975: 25)
Pure examples of the fantastic are relatively rare. Most of the events in Final Destination could happen without the intervention of Death, but a close-up of water that has leaked out of a toilet flowing backwards, after the victim has m died, compromises the suggestion that these events could have happened naturally. Rosemary’s Baby (1967) maintains doubt over whether Rosemary has been unhinged by pregnancy, or has actually been impregnated by the devil, until the film’s final scene.
Conventions
The repertoire of generic conventions available at any one point in time is always in play rather than simply being re-played.
(Neale, 2000: 219) This ‘play’ occurs in two ways: the choice and combination of elements. Each new expression of a genre is likely to be different in some way from previous examples. For example Psycho (1960) introduced a particularly visceral form of horror in the shower slaying of Marion Crane. Such was the impact of this film that virtually all subsequent horror movies have been influenced by it. This influence, of course, is directed through the generic change that Psycho wrought. It is difficult, possibly impossible, to understand the paradigm shift that film had on audience expectation 40 years after the event. Linda Williams has suggested that:
Psycho introduced, long before the blockbusters [such as Star Wars
(1977) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)], what might be called a
roller-coaster concept to the phenomenon of film viewing. For Psycho
the ride began … with … its anticipation of terror. It continued in the
film proper with an unprecedented experience of disorientation,
destabilization, and terror.
(Williams, 2000: 358)
This roller-coaster ride, which is still evident in ‘blockbuster’ cinema, might best be characterised in the context of horror as the ghost train. In many horror texts the repertoire of elements is mobilised in order to give visceral shocks to the audience, just when they were not expecting it, allowing the spectators to experience fear in safety. However we must not forget such horror films as The Sixth Sense (1999), which underplay visceral shock in favour of psychological investigation. This film was popular with a wide audience, whereas the attractions of ‘gross out’, or body horror, appears to lessen with age.
http://www.palgrave.com/culturalmedia/lacey/p/Genre-clean.pdf
References
Cawelti, John G. (1976) Adventure, Mystery and Romance, Chicago: University of Chicago
Press.
Gledhill, Christine and Williams, Linda (eds) (2000) Reinventing Film Studies, London and
New York: Arnold.
Neale, Steve (2000) Genre and Hollywood, London and New York: Routledge.
Todorov, Tzvetan (1975) The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre, Ithaca,
NY: Cornell University Press.
Williams, Linda (2000) ‘Discipline and fun: Psycho and postmodern cinema’,
in C. Gledhill and L. Williams (eds), Reinventing Film Studies, London and